But he assured us, faithfully, cross-his-heart-and-hope-to-die, that the British Secret Services had no part in or knowledge of American torture of prisoners during the Iraq War. Only ‘conspiracy theorists’ thought otherwise.

‘He’ was the Director-General of MI5, speaking at a meeting of ‘intelligence’ historians in Cambridge a few years ago, held under ‘Chatham House Rules’ (look it up): which means that I shouldn’t really be telling you this.